Quote:I don't think we're not saying that Henne didn't play well Thursday night. But that is Henne's ceiling. He doesn't get better than that. And Blake was still better and didn't even revert back to any of his old mechanical issues.
We'll see how he's progressing when he faces a first team defense. We know Henne's ceiling, but we don't know for sure that Bortles is at a point where he's ready to assume the starting role right now. That's a call the coaches will make based upon their own evaluation.
"Our young QB looks like he might be an elite level franchise QB much faster than we thought. Should we go ahead and start him?"
What a pleasant argument to have.
Quote:"Our young QB looks like he might be an elite level franchise QB much faster than we thought. Should we go ahead and start him?"
What a pleasant argument to have.
It's been a while since we've been able to say that.
Quote:"Our young QB looks like he might be an elite level franchise QB much faster than we thought. Should we go ahead and start him?"
What a pleasant argument to have.
I am so impressed with how well Bortles passes the ball on rollouts. He received high praise from Gruden during Thursday's game. That says a lot considering Gruden is one of the most respected football minds. The Jaguars' fan base deserves a franchise level quarterback :yes: .
I do believe David Carr would have had a better career if he had not gotten demolished in the pocket so early in his development. If the OLine is a train wreck, let it get better with Henne. Once the OLine is OK, put Bortles in. I don't think riding the pine is going to develop him better than game experience during the regular season.
Quote:I do believe David Carr would have had a better career if he had not gotten demolished in the pocket so early in his development. If the OLine is a train wreck, let it get better with Henne. Once the OLine is OK, put Bortles in. I don't think riding the pine is going to develop him better than game experience during the regular season.
I do believe the development of the O Line is going to determine when he starts. He's already making bigger throws than Henne and is obviously unfazed by the lights of the NFL with the level of poise he's shown in the first two games.
Really, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. People who are for sitting him will cite Gabbert's failure as due to his early game action. Anti - sitters will say he's a bad player. Honestly, it doesn't really matter. If Bortles turns into an All-Pro, no one will care for how long he did or didn't start. Likewise if he turns into Gabbert.
I will say that his vast and rapid improvement has me thinking that he could start sooner rather than later, but I also would rather have one season of no Bortles + 15 seasons of All-Pro, than Bortles-who-hasn't-fully-reached-his-potential for that span of time.
I'm on the "let's not rush him in" train. Yes, he's done well and I too would like to see how he does against the ones. Also, with the defense being improved, they should be able to keep us more competitive. That being said, if Henne can at least be serviceable and continue to move the offense as he did Thursday night, we may not be in too bad a position when they finally do give Bortles the nod.
Quote:There's no guarantee that the O-line problem will be minimized in a few games.
Obviously you don't want him to get killed (David Carr) and I'm all for sitting him if the line is that bad. But even Gabbert can throw from behind a stone wall - how a young QB reacts to pressure is actually part of the development process. If he folds like a tent, he probably wasn't worth the # 3 pick.
No, there's no guarantee, but I think we have high enough caliber players to make a solid front line eventually.
We've already seen that he doesn't fold like a tent, but if he's spending half, or more, of his snaps running from pursuers then development slows. Of course injury is always concern as well.
Quote:What makes any given time the "right" time? That's the definition I think we all would like to hear.
In my mind, you start the guy who gives you the best chance of winning the game, period.
The right time is when Blake knows the playbook well enough to run the offense at the tempo Bradley/Fisch want to operate with --
and when the interior O-line issues are resolved or at least patched up. The kid has looked good against back-ups that aren't game planning. Things will be different in a few weeks. Maybe they'll deem him 'ready' in September - maybe they won't. I just trust this coaching staff much, much more than you or myself when it comes to making that call. It's what they've been consumed with since May. I think they've got their collective finger on the pulse of the situation. If they had been making bad decisions left and right, I'd doubt them -- but they haven't.
Quote:The right time is when Blake knows the playbook well enough to run the offense at the tempo Bradley/Fisch want to operate with -- and when the interior O-line issues are resolved or at least patched up. The kid has looked good against back-ups that aren't game planning. Things will be different in a few weeks. Maybe they'll deem him 'ready' in September - maybe they won't. I just trust this coaching staff much, much more than you or myself when it comes to making that call. It's what they've been consumed with since May. I think they've got their collective finger on the pulse of the situation. If they had been making bad decisions left and right, I'd doubt them -- but they haven't.
Well said.
The fact is the coaches have a certain expectation regarding Bortles' development. And it appears that expectation is different than what they expect from Henne. Henne is the place holder, that's obvious. I think they're looking for Henne to be the game manager and keep the team moving in the right direction as they continue to work on the franchise QB. There are alot of moving parts regarding the offense in terms of the youth at the WR corps and the lack of coehesion on the O-Line.
The WR/O-Line variables I think are also in play regarding when to start BB5. Of course I don't know this for sure, but I would just think that it would be wise to look at the entire picture and not just the BB5 progression factor.
Just a quick question... Wasn't Gabbert in against the Chicago 1's on Thursday during the 2nd quarter? I can't remember Gruden or Tirico mentioning it, and I don't know Chicago's players well enough to know.
Quote:Really, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. People who are for sitting him will cite Gabbert's failure as due to his early game action. Anti - sitters will say he's a bad player. Honestly, it doesn't really matter. If Bortles turns into an All-Pro, no one will care for how long he did or didn't start. Likewise if he turns into Gabbert.
I will say that his vast and rapid improvement has me thinking that he could start sooner rather than later, but I also would rather have one season of no Bortles + 15 seasons of All-Pro, than Bortles-who-hasn't-fully-reached-his-potential for that span of time.
If he continues to play the way he's been playing you'd really be fine with him holding a clip board for 16 weeks? I think it's easy to say that right now because you still get to see him play a few quarters each week. I will be shocked if anyone is still on board with this approach 4, 5, 6 weeks into the season and you haven't seen him play any meaningful minutes in 2 months.
In Blakes RF year at UCF he came into multiple games in relief in the 2nd half when we were down big. He either led the team to to victory or almost did. Eventually he took over the starting spot. I could see that happening here.
If Blake keeps looking this good there's gonna be constant pressure to start him and it will only get worse as the season goes. Is that something we want lingering in the locker room? I can't foresee Henne actually playing well this season.
Quote:If Blake keeps looking this good there's gonna be constant pressure to start him and it will only get worse as the season goes. Is that something we want lingering in the locker room? I can't foresee Henne actually playing well this season.
Once the season starts, almost all of the reps are going to go to the starting QB, so I don't think there's going to be any sort of constant pressure, particularly in the locker room. With the fans? Sure, but I don't expect this staff to make decisions based on what the fans think.
You can't foresee Henne playing well. That doesn't mean it can't happen.
I guess I'll throw this here:
@NFLosophy: Blake Bortles cutup! ---> RT @Jmpasq: Blake Bortles vs Chicago Bears 2014 Week 2 Preseason
https://t.co/5kvb4bWrlH
#Jaguars
Wasn't it Gruden that absolutely flamed Gabbert on a Thursday night game, what a pleasent change,
Quote:If he continues to play the way he's been playing you'd really be fine with him holding a clip board for 16 weeks? I think it's easy to say that right now because you still get to see him play a few quarters each week. I will be shocked if anyone is still on board with this approach 4, 5, 6 weeks into the season and you haven't seen him play any meaningful minutes in 2 months.
You are looking at this from a fans stand point which is totally fine. You see a glimpse of hope that could change this team around. Change us from being in the league of lions and browns teams to colts and patriots dynasties. We all see that and we all ready for that.
I think the coaches see this as well. But I believe they see something else. They understand they are not in a win now mode like the Jets or Bills. They know they have a patient owner who sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The fans can scream and cry and even stop coming to the games. But they realize once they build a consistent winner that all will stop.
If they let the kid sit for a few weeks to make sure he is ready versus playing before he is ready then that may be the difference for Blake. If they think he is ready by week one them that is fine too.
As a fan you can feel however you want to. I just think there are some of is here that see this will play out just fine in the end. This year was not going to be a Super Bowl year anyway so why not allow consistency and growth to happen? It will all pay off in the end.
He needs more seasoning.
He never had a dedicated QB coach so he has quite a bit of catching up to do. I know he's looked great in the preseason and I'm as excited as any Jag fan about our new QB. I have to wonder, however, if it were Gabbert putting these numbers up vs number 2/3 defenses would we still be saying to start him? I don't think so, and I think the lack of gameplanning (both the preparation for the other team that BB will have to do, and more importantly the preparation AGAINST him) is really clouding the picture a bit as far as his true development.
That being said, I'm glad that he's playing with the 1's during the most important preseason game. The coaches are giving him an opportunity, which is all a rookie can ask for. If he takes full advantage it will be interesting to see what happens.
Great problem to have!
Cant wait to see how he performs against the 1s in Detroit